GOP’s Thompson to Retire, Sending Parties Scrambling

Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) abruptly canceled a reelection bid Friday, dealing a blow to GOP hopes of retaking the Senate and prompting a hunt by both parties for candidates to replace the folksy political maverick.

For Democrats, the field appeared wide open after former Vice President Al Gore quashed speculation that he would seek his old Senate seat. Gore, who is considering whether to run again for president in 2004 after his narrow loss in 2000, said through a spokesman that he would help the eventual Democratic nominee in Tennessee but not run himself.

Many prominent Republicans, trying to hold on to what had been a safe seat in their column, began to rally Friday behind a top-tier candidate of their own to replace Thompson: Lamar Alexander, former Tennessee governor and two-time presidential contender.

“I will seriously consider being a candidate to succeed [Thompson] and will make a prompt decision,” Alexander said in a statement.

The filing deadline for candidates is April 4, and the parties will choose nominees Aug. 1.

Even if the GOP clears the primary field for Alexander, Thompson’s decision to step down after his term ends in January posed an unexpected challenge as the party seeks to regain a Senate majority.

Democrats, who control the Senate by one seat, cheered the emergence of a potential headache for Republicans.

Thompson is the party’s fourth incumbent senator to announce retirement plans, after Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, Jesse Helms of North Carolina and Phil Gramm of Texas.

“It’s another open seat, another competitive race, one more place where Republicans are playing defense,” said Jim Jordan, executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Thompson last year flirted with not seeking reelection, but after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks decided to run. His reversal Friday came just weeks after the death of his 38-year-old daughter following a heart attack.

“I simply do not have the heart for another six-year term,” Thompson said in a statement. “Serving in the Senate has been a tremendous honor, but I feel that I have other priorities that I need to attend to. I hope that my friends and supporters who may be disappointed will understand.”

President Bush said Thompson “has served the people of Tennessee with honor, distinction and class.”

Thompson, 59, hit the political stage in Washington nearly 30 years ago as chief Republican counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee. He later worked as an investigator for then-Gov. Alexander in Tennessee and launched an acting career. He appeared in 18 movies, including “The Hunt for Red October.” Frequently he played government, military or law enforcement roles.

In 1994, Thompson won a special election to the Senate seat Gore gave up when he became vice president. Thompson easily won a full six-year term in 1996 and was not expected to face a serious challenge this year.

Political analysts agreed that Thompson’s departure will give Democrats an opening to snare a seat from the Republican column--but how wide an opening remains to be seen.

Analyst Charlie Cook said that the race would lean toward the GOP if Alexander runs, and would be a tossup if he does not.

Another potential Republican candidate is Rep. Ed Bryant, a four-term veteran who is best known for serving on the House prosecution team during the 1999 impeachment proceedings against President Clinton. Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.) is also mentioned as a possible candidate.

The stakes in the race are especially high for Republicans. A loss there “would make it awfully hard for them to take over the Senate,” said analyst Stuart Rothenberg.

Among Democrats, possible contenders are Reps. Harold E. Ford Jr. of Memphis, a keynote speaker at the 2000 Democratic National Convention; Bob Clement, whose father was a three-term governor of the state; and John S. Tanner.

On Capitol Hill, Thompson rose to become the top Republican on the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. From that perch, he led hearings into fund-raising scandals that emerged from the 1996 Clinton-Gore reelection campaign.

Those hearings opened with Thompson’s bold assertion that the Chinese government had attempted to influence the congressional and presidential elections with “substantial sums of money,” but ended somewhat inconclusively as important witnesses declined to testify.

Thompson also has veered from the mainstream GOP line on several occasions. Unlike most Republicans in Congress, he has been a fervent supporter of the effort led by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to diminish the role of big-money contributions in U.S. politics.

In the 2000 presidential contest, he initially favored Alexander and then McCain for the party’s nomination. In the general election, Thompson stumped for Bush.